To the great delight of my tenderly growing home bar, I just received a marketviewliquor shipment, and along with a couple bottles each of the wonderful Shiraz & Niagara varietals we tried during our vacation a couple weeks ago, I also picked up a bottle of Disaronno Amaretto ($18.99/750mL), which is really the one, the only, the true amaretto. I have to admit, I did seriously consider getting the Trader Vic’s Amaretto ($13.99/750mL) but decided the $5 difference wasn’t worth it, at least, this first time around. And oh geez, I’m so glad I opted for the Disaronno.

The shiz is amazing! Absolutely amazing! Impossibly delicious, even on its own with a bit of ice (and I generally find liqueurs too sweet and cloying to stand on its own). It’s a bit of a sweet almond, buttery flavour — you really have to try it, its rather indescribable. Where this particular brand stands out is that it doesn’t taste chemical or synthetic at all.

But where this amaretto really shines is in… cocktails!

Amaretto Sour // 2:1 amaretto & lemon juice. Shake.
Ah, one simply cannot talk about amaretto cocktails without first discussing the Amaretto Sour. So simple yet stunningly flavourful!

Bocce ball // 2:1 vodka & amaretto, fill with orange juice. Stir.
This is basically a variation on the brunch favourite, the screwdriver, but I’ve never heard of it before, only when I googled “Cocktails with Amaretto”. I have to say; I very much enjoyed it. The amaretto flavour complemented well with the orange juice. I suspect it’d be perfectly fine without the vodka — its just there to make this drink a quiet assassin.

Butter Nut Scotch // 1:1:1 scotch, butterscotch schnapps & amaretto. Shake.
Ok. I really didn’t expect this to be good. But I just happen to have these ingredients lying around (despite the Mr. Boston butterscotch schnapps I have being pretty gross, and the scotch being really a blend of scotch and whiskey), so I had to try it. Its not bad, got potential as a rich & satisfying drink (abet a dangerous one from the sheer amount of alcohol involved) — the amount of the schnapps needs to be reduced because it stands out too much in this particular ratio, but I think with a little tweaking, this could a surprisingly good cocktail.

And that is all, good sirs, that I have been able to try thus far (out of respect for my poor embattled liver). But the amaretto goes marching on…!

I may skip the generic amaretto matchups (French Connection, Godfather, Godmother, or simply 1:1 amaretto with cognac, scotch & vodka respectively) since they don’t seem particularly novel. Thus, the next amaretto cocktail I make, just because it sounds f’ing amazing will probably be the following:

Cafe Zürich

• 1 part (½ fl oz/15 ml) Amaretto liqueur
• 3 parts (1½ fl oz/44 ml) Anisette
• 3 parts (1½ fl oz/44 ml) Cognac
• Coffee
• 1 tsp Honey
• Whipped cream

Add amaretto, cognac and anisette to an Irish coffee mug. Fill almost to the top with hot coffee. Add honey and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

(from Wikipedia’s Amaretto)

Look at me straight in the eye and tell me that doesn’t sound like heaven on earth in a coffee mug.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 11:25 am and is filed under Cocktails, Liqueur.